


Let Me Help You

by angstykeith



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Grahamscott, Hurt/Comfort, Implied abuse, Injury, M/M, concerned!warren, hurt nathan prescott, idk how to tag, mentioned sean prescott, nathan prescott deserves better, protect nathan, protective warren, warren is an angel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 10:18:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15683430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angstykeith/pseuds/angstykeith
Summary: Warren finds an injured Nathan Prescott stumbling around and takes it upon himself to look after him.





	Let Me Help You

Thump.

Warren looked up from his bright laptop screen towards the door, wondering who was stumbling along the corridor at these hours. Checking the laptop again, he saw that it was past 1am now, and figured someone drunk was coming back from a party, a usual occurrence in the boy's dormitory.

He decided to shrug it off and resumed scrolling through tumblr when he heard yet another thump, followed by the sound of someone hissing in pain. Warren couldn't help the feeling of concern growing in his gut, and after hearing the mystery person groan in pain, he made up his mind. 

Setting his laptop aside, he swung his legs off the side of the bed, feeling the itchy carpet beneath his bare feet, and padded over to the door leaving his dorm room. Quietly, Warren cracked the door open slightly and peered out into the corridor. His eyes widened at the sight before him: Nathan Prescott limping towards his dorm, leaning against the wall for support, with bloody knuckles and a beaten face. Warren gaped for a moment, taking in the scene. What was he meant to do? 

Evidently, Nathan was struggling, and one of his eyes were shut and looking swollen as if it had been punched. Unable to leave someone in need, even if it was Nathan Prescott, Warren swung his door open and approached the boy, who was a little way down the corridor. 

"Need any help?" he asked awkwardly, making sure to keep his voice low. His hand absentmindedly began rubbing the back of his neck.

Nathan immediately scowled, turning his body away from Warren. "Fuck off," he spat, continuing to drag himself along the wall to his room. 

Sighing, Warren said, "Come on, Nathan, you're going to wake people up like this. Just let me help and I won't tell anyone, I swear." 

"I said fuck off, Gayram," Nathan hissed. "I don't need your help." 

Warren felt anger begin to bubble in the pit of his stomach, but bit back a cruel remark. "Look, I hate you just as much as you hate me, okay?" he growled. "But you're making a fucking racket and I'm not just going to leave you here, so I'm helping whether you like it or not."

For a moment, Nathan just stared at Warren, lips parted slightly in shock, before giving a hesitant nod and leaning towards him. Warren met him halfway, taking Nathan's arm and wrapping it around his neck and placing his own arm uncomfortably around the boy's waist. Nathan shot him a harsh glare as he did this, as if warning him, and Warren held back an eye roll. Quietly, they made their way to Nathan's dorm, Warren carrying most of the weight. 

"It's unlocked," Nathan said when they got there, already twisting the handle and pushing the door open. Releasing Warren's neck, he stumbled onto his bed, collapsing in the middle of it and groaning. 

Warren hovered by the door and rocked nervously on the balls of his feet, feeling out of place and unsure of what to do next. Realising this was the first time he'd ever been in Nathan's room, Warren took the opportunity to examine his surroundings. Behind the bed was a large bookshelf with some of Nathan's photographs on display, and across from the bed was a small, new looking sofa. What really caught Warren's eye was the projector above the couch (he'd always wanted one), and he imagined what it must be like to watch horror films on it. 

"You can go now," Nathan muttered, twisting his head so he was facing Warren as it lay on the pillow. 

Warren nodded stiffly, turning to leave before changing his mind. "Do you have a first aid kit?" he asked, eyes already darting around the room in search of one. 

Nathan seemed to hesitate for a moment, his pale blue eyes searching Warren's face, before mumbling, "Yeah, s' in the draw over there." Weakly, he lifted his shaky hand off the bed and pointed across the room for a moment, before letting it drop.

Warren shuffled towards the dresser and quickly retrieved it, before placing it on the end of Nathan's bed. "I'm going to get something to clean the blood, alright? Wait here," he told him.

Without waiting for a reply, Warren went to his own dorm to grab some small towels along with an empty glass and made his way to the boys bathroom. There, he wet them under the tap and filled the glass with water, before bringing them back to Nathan's dorm. 

Nathan was where he left him, but sat up when he walked into the room. Cautiously, Warren sat next to him on the bed and swivelled his body so they were facing each other. Opening the first aid kit, he found some pain killer and handed it to Nathan along with the cup. 

Nathan snorted humourlessly. "I'm not a baby, I don't need that." 

Resisting the urge to snap at the rich kid for being so difficult, Warren said, "Are you in pain?" 

"Well obviously, but-"

"Then drink it," Warren insisted. For a moment, they stared at each other, Warren challenging Nathan with his eyes, before the boy sighed heavily and swallowed the tablet with some water. "Thank you," he said. Nathan rolled his eyes at him. 

"I'm going to clean the blood from your face first, okay?" Warren said. 

Nathan looked like he wanted to argue, but instead nodded weakly, too tired to put up a fight. 

Warren scooted closer and began using the wet towel to wipe the blood off Nathan's face. Now that he was closer, he could see that his lip was split and he had several cuts of various sizes.

As he dabbed the larger gash on the boy's face, Nathan flinched and looked away, allowing Warren better access to his cheek. Unfortunately, this also meant that he was able to admire Nathan's admittedly attractive jawline to his hearts content. 

Now, Warren had only recently come to terms with his raging bisexuality, so all of this was still a bit new to him. He'd only just discovered that most of the boys he was supposedly jealous of or admired were actually past crushes of his, and he hadn't quite gotten used to allowing himself to stare at boys knowing he was attracted to them. In other words, realising that he found certified asshole Nathan Prescott extremely good looking was sending Warren into a mild gay panic. 

Determinedly ignoring the frantic thoughts racing about in his mind, Warren finished cleaning the cuts on the right side of Nathan's face. Without thinking, he tilted the boy's head to face him and was surprised to have him comply without any resistance. 

Now that he could see his whole face, Warren realised the last cut needing to be cleaned was the one on Nathan's lip, as the left of his face seemed to be mostly unharmed. Fantastic, he thought, that's all I need. 

Deciding to suck it up, he began using the towel to lightly brush away the blood on his bottom lip. He could feel Nathan's intense gaze on him the entire time, and restrained himself from making eye contact. 

"So, uh, how did you get all these injuries anyway?" Warren winced at the way his voice croaked, fighting hopelessly to keep a blush off his face. He wasn't sure if he succeeded, but thankfully, Nathan didn't mention it.

"Can't really talk while you're smothering my lips," was his sarcastic reply, although it was more of a mumble. 

"Right," Warren said awkwardly, and the silence returned. Instead, Warren took advantage of his excuse to stare at Nathan's lips (since, under any other circumstances, he would probably be punched), and realised with horror that he couldn't stop imagining how it would feel to kiss them. 

Pushing those thoughts back and refusing to think about what they meant, he finished cleaning Nathan's face and prepared himself for what was to come next. "I, uh, I need to- are you hurt anywhere else?" Nathan's eyes narrowed. "Anywhere which isn't your face?" Warren felt the need to clarify, as if the blue-eyed boy hadn't already caught on. 

Instead of a cruel remark or a 'fuck off Gayram', Nathan let out a breathy chuckle and replied, "If you wanted me to take my shirt off, Graham, you could've just asked." 

Warren felt the heat rushing up his neck, and from the satisfied smirk on Nathan's face, he knew he was blushing terribly. He couldn't help it! Nathan was being impossibly cliche and had practically called Warren out. 

"Shut up," he muttered. "Where else are you hurt?"

Rather than responding, Nathan casually removed his jacket and began taking off his shirt, seemingly unaware of Warren's growing panic as he stood up, eyes frantically darting around the room, trying to look anywhere else. 

The sound of Nathan undressing halted, and for a few moments there was silence, until he spoke up. "Graham?" Warren could hear the smirk in his voice. Bracing himself, he looked back at Nathan, their eyes meeting. "It's going to be hard to help when you won't even look at me." 

Warren muttered a few words under his breath and allowed himself to examine Nathan's chest. His heart sunk when he took in the sight: a large, bloody cut stretched across the boy's torso and swollen looking areas which were definitely going to bruise. Warren couldn't help but gape at him. 

"Who did this to you?" he asked, beginning to feel his blood boil for reasons he didn't know.

Nathan laughed dryly. "Doesn't really matter, does it?" 

"Of course it does!" Warren snapped, throwing his arms up in frustration. "You have to report this to someone. You can't just-"

"Graham!" Nathan interrupted, looking exasperated, "I'm fine, alright? I can handle myself. Now, are you going to help or not?" 

Warren growled, snatching up the towel from where he had dropped it in shock and muttering, "Doesn't look like it." Begrudgingly, he sat down next to Nathan once again and started with the big cut. Immediately, the boy hissed in pain, and Warren realised he was being far too rough. "Sorry," he murmured. 

As he tended to the wound, Warren noticed all the silver scars littered across Nathan's front, some small and thin, others larger, and his stomach churned. How did Nathan get these? Nathan was also covered in bruises and Warren knew none of them were from this attack because they were already purple. Curiosity tugged on his tongue, willing him to ask questions, but he swallowed the words down, knowing not to push his luck. 

"Don't tell anyone," Nathan whispered suddenly, sad eyes filled with desperation. 

Warren shook his head. "I won't, but did you do this to yourself?"

"No, it- it was someone else."

In that moment, a horrible thought displayed itself in Warren's mind. It was the end of the Christmas holidays, and most people had only just got back from visiting their families, Nathan included, and the bruises could only be from a couple of days beforehand. Warren felt his heart plummet once again. 

"Was it your dad?" His mouth moved before he could stop himself, and his eyes flicked up to Nathan's nervously, looking for his reaction. 

Nathan's eyes widened momentarily, and Warren felt him go rigid beneath his touch. Stiffly, he nodded, eyes glassier than they were before, and Warren felt a strange surge of protectiveness for the fragile boy in front of him. That same feeling was what compelled him to do what he did next, so it was a miracle Warren had finished wiping away the blood, otherwise it would've ended up all over his own shirt when he pulled Nathan in for a hug. 

At first, the boy tried to move away, but Warren's grip on him only tightened as he kept his arms wrapped around his shoulders, pulling Nathan's head into his chest. After a few moments of Nathan trying to wriggle away, and a single, "What the fuck, Graham," he eventually went limp in Warren's arms. 

"Don't tell anyone," the boy choked out again as Warren lifted a hand to Nathan's head, fingers carding through his hair soothingly. Nathan whimpered, a sound which made Warren's heart ache for him. 

"I won't," he murmured, allowing Nathan to sob into his chest. "I promise." 

"Thank you." 

 

Warren wasn't sure how long it was before Nathan's crying finally stopped and his breathing evened out, but it felt like hours as he held on to the boy, whispering calming words into his ear. Now that he was asleep, Warren had time to contemplate just how wrong he was about the school's rich kid. Sure, he could be a total ass and was definitely not the nicest guy around, but he wasn't the heartless monster everyone thought he was. The heartless monster Warren thought he was. He was just a boy who had experienced more suffering than anyone should, and a boy who had never been loved the way he deserved. From that moment onwards, Warren made a pact to himself that he would do anything he could to help Nathan and show him that not everyone would treat him the way his father did. 

As his eyes began to droop, Warren realised he should probably get back to his own room, but didn't want to wake the sleeping boy. Slowly, he tried to lift Nathan from his chest and lower him into the bed. Nathan stirred immediately, clutching the front of Warren's shirt tightly in his fist and refusing to let go. Warren carefully pried his top from his hand, accidentally waking Nathan as he did so. 

"You're leaving?" Nathan mumbled sleepily, blue eyes only slightly cracked open to watch him. His usually hard face was open and vulnerable, and his messy hair hung in front of his eyes. Warren's fingers itched to brush it away. 

"Yeah," he said breathily, "I'll fall asleep otherwise." Nathan nodded, although he seemed reluctant to let Warren leave. "Unless I can stay?" he asked, praying he hadn't read the situation wrong. 

Nathan's eyes filled with relief and the corner of his mouth quirked upwards as he nodded slightly, making Warren's heart flutter. Hesitantly, he sat on the other side of the double bed and tucked them both under the thick duvet, wondering how Nathan would react when he found the school nerd in his bed the next day. Sure, he wanted him there now, but Nathan was clearly delirious and Warren could only imagine the punches that were to come. 

"Thank you," Nathan interrupted his thoughts with a quiet mumble, and Warren was sure he wasn't imagining the light shade of pink dusted over his cheeks. He looked like he wanted to say more, too, his mouth opening and closing twice, but he seemed to decide against it. Warren had a feeling he wanted to apologise, but figured he'd do it when he was ready.

"Anytime," he said with a tired grin. Nathan smiled in response, and it was so genuine that Warren's stomach did a somersault. "I mean it," he added, "if this happens again I want to help then as well. Please." 

Nathan didn't reply to this, his eyes already shut and his breathing shallow. Warren knew he couldn't have fallen asleep that quickly, but decided to leave him alone. As he shut his own eyes, he replayed the events of the night over and over until he eventually drifted off. He fell asleep smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! this is so bad i’m sorry idk how to write nathan lmao but i hope you enjoyed!


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